The (Brief) Return of the Phantom Knight
by Sydella
Summary: Genkishi returns from the dead for one last conversation with Byakuran. Slight one-sided Genkishi x Byakuran. Mukuro/Byakuran frenemy bromance is also included for your viewing pleasure.


Some things are just meant to happen.

A woman clad in long, sweeping black robes knelt on the cold ground on the outskirts of Namimori, a small town in Japan. Her hands, pale from lack of exposure to sunlight, trembled as she etched an ominous-looking symbol into the ground. With painstaking effort, she kept carving away at the ground until she was exhausted. Until the symbol she had crafted was unmistakably a pentagram.

Taking a deep breath, she stood, raised her hands and began to chant in Latin. After a few minutes, an intangible figure began to form in mid-air, shrouded in mist. A deep male voice spoke dispassionately from somewhere within the mist. _"I am the Phantom Knight. Who has summoned me?"_

The woman eagerly took a step forwards. "My name is-"

"_Your name is of no interest to me," _the voice interrupted, sounding annoyed.

The woman shrank back, clearly offended. "Well, _excuse _me. You did ask who summoned you."

"_It was a rhetorical question." _Slowly, the figure became more visible until it could be seen that he was a young man wearing a suit of armour. He had short, dark hair, rather unusually shaped eyebrows and a displeased expression. He looked around and scowled. _"Where am I?" _

"This is Japan," the woman informed him. She eyed him nervously, wondering how best to raise the topic of why she had summoned him in the first place. Clearing her throat, she said hesitantly, "Sir, I have summoned you because I have learned of your legendary exploits in a universe not unlike our own-"

"_Are you also aware of the fact that those same exploits have cost me my life?" _the Phantom Knight demanded heatedly.

The woman blinked. "Well-I-"

"_I swear I will have my vengeance," _he seethed. _"I will hunt down the man who killed me and make him fear my wrath. I will end his life, just as he ended mine!"_

"Sir, please. I beg you to hear me out." The woman spread her hands in a supplicating gesture. "I have a request."

"_I don't care," _came the cold response.

"But-"

"_You have served your purpose, woman. Now, be gone."_ The Phantom Knight drifted past her and, as tendrils of his insubstantial form brushed over her pale skin, her eyes rolled up in her head and she collapsed like a marionette whose strings have been severed.

With scarcely a glance at the woman he had just killed, the Phantom Knight purposefully headed into town. He had a plan and was determined to carry it out.

"You're in the news, Byakuran," Mukuro Rokudo said.

Byakuran, who was idly squishing a marshmallow with one hand and rummaging in a bag of candy with the other, looked up. "I am?"

"Yes, you certainly are." Mukuro tossed a folded Namimori Times newspaper at him and lowered himself into a chair.

The two young men were in the Kokuyou Junior High Gang's headquarters. Mukuro didn't know why Byakuran was visiting him; the white-haired mafioso had simply shown up in Kokuyou Land unannounced and had given no explanation for his visit other than a vague remark about needing to be entertained. If Mukuro were to be completely honest with himself, though, he didn't mind. In fact, he was enjoying Byakuran's company. _What is this world coming to?_ Perhaps the naïve young Vongola Decimo was having more influence on both Mukuro and Byakuran than either of them cared to admit. To think that they had gone from being opponents in a thoroughly unpleasant alternate future, to allies against the Vindice, and now they were hanging out in the same room like old friends.

"This is ridiculous," Byakuran said scornfully, flinging the newspaper down and bringing Mukuro out of his reverie. "So a woman has been found murdered on the outskirts of Namimori, and several houses there have been vandalised with graffiti that says 'Byakuran, I'm coming for you'. So what? This doesn't mean anything."

Mukuro looked intently at him. "Are you sure? You don't sound very convinced."

Byakuran met his gaze. "I'm absolutely sure. People can't come back from the dead."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you." Mukuro leaned back in his chair and gave Byakuran a speculative look. "You've seen the ghost of Vongola Primo, haven't you?"

Byakuran scowled. He had grown fond of Tsunayoshi-kun in his own way, but still didn't like being reminded of the parallel world in which he, a highly experienced and cunning man, had been defeated by a whippet of a boy, and one who was apparently chummy with a long-dead ancestor, no less. Byakuran had no doubt that Mukuro had brought up Vongola Primo just to rile him up. Forcing a smile, he propped his chin on one hand and smirked at Mukuro. "Even so, I highly doubt I have anything to fear. It's probably just some random mafioso trying to provoke me. After all, I am even more infamous than you."

"You shouldn't let your guard down, though," Mukuro replied, pointedly ignoring the little jibe. "Sawada Tsunayoshi came by earlier today and told me that he and his little friends are doing everything they can to protect the townspeople. He's really quite self-sacrificing."

"Quite," Byakuran agreed dryly. He handed the newspaper back to Mukuro. "Seriously, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

"Me, worry about you? Don't flatter yourself," Mukuro retorted.

Byakuran smirked again. But somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered if Mukuro might be right.

Mukuro had _definitely _been right.

Byakuran sat up, coughing. Feeling something wet on his face, he tentatively touched it and his fingers came away slicked with blood. Shards of glass littered the floor and various pieces of furniture had been upended. A cold draft swept through the house. Byakuran tensed, leaping to his feet and warily taking stock of his surroundings.

Upon returning home a few hours earlier, Byakuran had been attacked from the moment he entered. Windows shattered, doors were torn off their hinges, all sorts of things were flung around…and Byakuran knew exactly who the culprit was. Said culprit wasn't exactly subtle-the shards of glass on the floor had been carefully arranged to form a word, or rather, a name. Genkishi.

Despite knowing that he lived in a bizarre universe with countless equally bizarre parallel equivalents, ghosts were one of the few things Byakuran found difficult to believe in wholeheartedly. Granted, there _were _parallel worlds in which technology had advanced enough for believable simulations of spirits and the afterlife to exist. He had used one in his fight against the Vongola, and had been perfectly comfortable with the fact that one of his other selves was little more than a ghost. But this world, a conducive environment for spooks? _Surely not. _Byakuran felt more than a little sceptical. Still, there's a first time for everything.

"Genkishi?" he called out cautiously. "Are you there?"

Mist swirled into the room. Byakuran remained where he was, determined not to show any fear and calmly watching as the mist slowly took shape. Genkishi's head appeared first, followed by his body, and finally his armour. The Phantom Knight's expression was dour as he stared at Byakuran. _"We meet again, Byakuran."_

Byakuran noted the disdainful tone and absence of the respectful tone Genkishi had once used when addressing him. Inclining his head, Byakuran smiled coldly and replied, "Indeed. Has death been treating you well?"

"_Well enough,"_ Genkishi snarled. _"Certainly much better than the way _you_ treated me."_

Byakuran kept his face expressionless. "Ah, yes. I wasn't very nice to you, was I?"

"_No, you were not!"_ Genkishi roared. _"You abused and manipulated me. I was loyal to you until my dying breath, and how did you repay me? You had me killed by Kikyo's hand!" _

"Yes. Very regrettable."

Genkishi looked so angry that under any other circumstances, he would have looked almost comical. Almost. _"Regrettable? Is that all you have to say to me?! After all the things you made me endure?"_

"What else is there to say?" Byakuran gave Genkishi a challenging stare. "I don't claim to be a good person, Phantom Knight. You were so eager to believe in something, anything, that after I cured you in that alternate future, you worshipped me as your new God. You were so _willing _to believe in anything I told you, to do anything I ordered you to, that you blinded yourself to the reality of what was happening around you. You were as instrumental in your own downfall as I was." He took a deep breath. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Genkishi opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but appeared to be at a loss for words.

Byakuran watched the spectre of his former ally, feeling weary. Seeing the Phantom Knight like this, a literal phantom, caused a strange inexplicable ache in Byakuran. How could he possibly repair all the damage he had caused when he was intoxicated by the power of the Mare Rings? _How?_

"I trusted you," Genkishi finally said. All the fight seemed to have gone out of him. Even the mist surrounding him was a little less cold now. Drifting a little closer to Byakuran, he murmured, "And I loved you. I really did."

Byakuran stared into the Phantom Knight's sad, unearthly eyes for a long moment, then looked away. "I know, Genkishi," he replied quietly. "I know."

Genkishi flickered, like a candle flame the wind threatens to snuff out. "Where do I go now?" His voice was barely above a whisper.

Byakuran shrugged. "I wish I could help you, Genkishi." He meant it. He truly did wish he could help Genkishi. But there is an insurmountable barrier between the living and the dead, and there are problems no amount of parallel worlds can solve.

There was a long silence. Genkishi drifted aimlessly around the room, looking at the wreckage he had caused. Byakuran stared into space, wondering what the final outcome of this supernatural encounter would be. When Genkishi finally spoke, he sounded sad yet also hopeful. "Well, I guess that's all, then."

Byakuran looked at him. "Do you think you'll stay here?"

"No. No, I don't think so." Genkishi flickered again. "I will take my leave now. Just tell me one last thing before I go."

Byakuran nodded.

"Why did you do it?" Genkishi flickered a third time, and this time, he slowly began to disappear, like mist returning to the atmosphere. "Even after all this time, I can't manage to stay angry at you, but I do need closure. I need to know why you killed me although I was so loyal that I would have died for you-and I _did _die for you."

"Well." Byakuran pondered. "I suppose…you could say that I was corrupted by power. That's the best answer I can give you."

The slowly dissipating spirit of the Phantom Knight peered at him, then nodded as if satisfied with this explanation. "Farewell, Byakuran-sama," he said softly, and after flickering one last time, vanished altogether.

Alone in his wrecked house, Byakuran wept a single tear. Later, he would tell himself that it had been nothing more than a natural reaction to the stinging cuts on his face.

"So Genkishi returned from the dead and wanted to kill you, but ended up just having a nice chat with you before going his own way?" Mukuro asked, fascinated.

Byakuran was once again in the Kokuyou Junior High Gang's headquarters, having trekked back to Kokuyou Land after cleaning up the wreckage in his house. He now sat on a tattered couch, clutching a bag of marshmallows, but his usual appetite was absent. "Yes. Well, that's one way of putting it."

Mukuro smirked. "Interesting."

Byakuran glared at him. "More like _disturbing_. I never want to go through something like that again if I can help it."

"Aww, don't tell me the widdle Mare boy is afraid of big scary ghosts," Mukuro said mockingly, in a baby-talk voice.

Byakuran grabbed a cushion from the couch and half-heartedly threw it at Mukuro, who dodged it easily, laughing. The pineapple-haired illusionist straightened and quickly sobered. "Seriously, though. Considering that you had a parallel world counterpart called Ghost, I'm surprised that you're disturbed by a chance encounter with your old pal from the other side."

"Ghost was different," Byakuran muttered. "He was me from a parallel world, so he wasn't really a ghost." Sighing, Byakuran pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well, anyway, it's all over now. I'll never see him again."

"Maybe," Mukuro murmured.

Byakuran narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"A lot of mysterious things can happen in this strange world of ours." Mukuro stared at something behind Byakuran.

Byakuran turned and followed Mukuro's gaze. As night fell outside, a single ray of dying sunlight slanted across a watercolour painting of lotus flowers and illuminated the largest and most elaborately painted blossom. The sunlight faded mere seconds later, but Byakuran understood what Mukuro meant.

"He might reincarnate," Mukuro said. For a few moments, those three words seemed to gain a life of their own and became the breathless utterance of a god, a promise from the lips of a devil.

"He might," Byakuran replied softly. "He just might."


End file.
